callegari



March 24, 1964 L. G. CALLEGARI 3,126,220

EXTENSION ROD FOR DOOR CHAINS Filed Nov. 21, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I id l 36 A. y 39 1Q" I so 3 INVENTOR. LOUIS G. C-ALLEGARI March 24, 1964 L. G. CALLEGARI 3,126,220

EXTENSION- ROD FOR DOOR CHAINS Filed Nov. 21, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v E; n a

INVENTOR. LOUIS G. CALLEGAR! BY 2. W

Tram 7 United States Patent Ofiice 3,125,220 Patented Mar. 24, 1964 3,126,229 EXTENSION ROD F OR DOQR CHAINS Louis G. Callegari, 34-06 45th St, Long Island City, N.Y. Filed Nov. 21, 1962, Ser. No. 239,214 10 Claims. (Cl. 292264) This invention relates to the art of door chain devices and more particularly concerns a jointed or articulated extension rod and anchor for extending a door chain.

Heretofore, conventional door chains have been arranged to permit doors to be opened a few inches, just sufiicient to enable a householder to converse with a caller remaining outside the door, and perhaps to pass a small object such as a letter or the like through the narrowly open doorway passage. It is often desirable to allow the door to be opened somewhat wider, perhaps as much as ten inches, in order to provide ventilation, to pass a fairly large package, to permit a pet such as a dog or cat to pass through the doorway, etc. At the same time it is desirable to keep the opening of the door limited in such a way that an unauthorized person cannot enter. The present invention accomplishes these purposes in a novel manner.

According to the invention, there is provided a jointed or articulated rod or chain which is attached to and serves as an extension for a conventional short door chain. The jointed rod does not interfere in any way with the normal usage of the short door chain. When the rod is used it is attached to its own anchor on the door as an extension of the short door chain, to provide a desired wider opening of the door. The rod and anchor are so constructed that they cannot be removed by an unauthorized person from outside the doorway.

It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a jointed rod extension for a short door chain, with a cooperating anchor for detachably engaging the rod.

Another object is to provide a jointed rod extension and anchor as described, wherein only one intermediate link of the rod can be engaged with and disengaged from the anchor, while other links serve to prevent disengagement of the rod from the anchor.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a door and door frame, the door being shown partially open, with a jointed rod, anchor therefor, and a short chain assembly mounted on the door and door frame.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken on line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is another sectional view similar to FIG. 2, with the jointed rod and anchor shown in operative engaged position.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view on a further enlarged scale taken on line 44 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the jointed rod and anchor.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another jointed rod according to the invention, parts being broken away.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on line 88 of FIG. 7.

In FIGS. 1-6 is shown a jointed rod it} which includes a series of straight cylindrical links 12 12'. Links l2 have single fingers 14 at opposite ends on the same lateral side of the links. Links 12 have single fingers 16 at opposite ends but on opposite lateral sides of the links. The fingers of the successive links are joined together by pintles 18 which permit pivotal movement of the links only in a common diametral plane of all links perpendicular to the axes of all pintles 18. At one end of the linked or jointed rod is a stop link 20 pivotally attached to a link 12* by a pintle 18. Link 21} has a long, flat rectangular body with two rectangular fingers 22 extending outwardly of opposite sides 21 of the link in the common plane of the pintles 18. At its other end, the rod 1!} has an anchor link 24 formed with a T-shaped head 26 angularly oifset from the axis of the remainder of the link body. Link 24 has a finger 25 pivotally attached to one end of another link 28 by a pintle 18'.

Link 28 serves as an anchor engagement key link. This key link has a straight rectangular body with fiat opposite lateral sides 29. Extending outwardly of the sides 29 are two fingers 36', 32 ofiset or spaced from each other longitudinally of the link. The other end of link 28 is pivotally secured by a pintle 18' to finger 14 of a link 12 Link 12 is similar to links 12 with single fingers at opposite ends disposed at the same lateral side of the link, but link 12 may be somewhat shorter than links 12*.

An anchor 3d is provided for engaging the rod lit. This anchor has a fiat rectangular base plate 31 provided with holes 34 near opposite ends for engaging screws 35 which mount the anchor on a door 40; see FIG. 1. A tubular body 36 extends across the plate 31 and is integral therewith. Body 36 has a longitudinal slot 38 opening into the cylindrical passage 42. which extends axially through body 36. Opposing fiat edges 44 44 of the body 36 at slot 38 have two notches 46 46* which are spaced from each other axially of body 36. The spacing of the notches 46 46 is equal to the spacing of fingers 30, 32 on link 28.

The fingers 30', 32 serve somewhat as keys which pass through notches 46 46 respectively, when the link 28 is passed laterally of body 36 through slot 38 into passage 42. The diameter of links 12*, 12 and 12* are total width of link 28 including fingers 3d, 32 are all larger than the width of slot 38 but less than the diameter of passage 42. Thus the jointed rod 10 can be moved axially through the body of the anchor but cannot be moved laterally out of or into the body except at link 28. And even link 28 cannot be moved, disengaged from or engaged with the anchor body unless the fingers 30, 32 are precisely aligned with notches 46 46 The stop link 20 cannot pass axially through passage 42 since the fingers 22 have their free ends spaced apart a greater distance than the diameter of passage 42. The inner end portion 29 of link 20 can enter passage 42 but end portion 20 cannot be moved. laterally out of passage 42 through slot 38 because the link l2. connected to link 29 is then lodged in passage 42 and locks link 26* in the anchor body.

FIGS. '1-3 show a short door chain 5t? having one end link 52 engaged upon loop 54 of a plate 56 secured to door frame 58 by screws 6t Attached to the other end of the chain 50 is a knob 62 provided with a shoe 64 which engages slidably in slot 65 of door plate 66. Plate 66 is a rectangular member secured to door 40' by corner screws 68. Shoe 64 can be disengaged from slot 65 at the enlarged inner end 65 of the slot. Knob 62 has a loop 63 engaged with end link 53 of chain 50. The T-shapcd head 25 of link 24 is also engaged with link 3 53. Anchor 3G is mounted on the door adjacent to the inner end of plate 66.

The jointed rod 10 hangs vertically as shown in FIG. 1 when knob 62 is engaged on door plate 66. This permits the door to be opened a short distance from door frame 53 or door jamb 59, determined only by the length of chain 50. Rod 10 is then not in use and does not interfere with engagement and disengagement of chain 50 from plate 66.

When it is desired to engage rod 16 on anchor 30 so as to permit greater but still limited opening of door 45), as shown in FIG. 3, the key link 28 will be fitted laterally into the anchor body 36. Then the rod 10 will be pulled axially outward until the fingers 22 abut the inner end of anchor body 36 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The knob 62 is disengaged from plate 66 so that the opening of the door is determined by the combined lengths of chain 50 and rod 10.

If it is desired to disengage the rod it) from anchor 30 to clear the door for opening fully, rod 10 must be pulled axially until link 28 is inside passage 42 and fingers 30', 32 are in alignment with notches 46 46 In this position of the rod, the door opening is narrowed. This narrow door opening is too small to permit an unauthorized person to insert his hand for disengaging rod 10 from anchor 30. Only an authorized person can thus disengage rod 10 from anchor 30, while he is standing at the inner side of the door where the anchor and rod are mounted.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show another arrangement of jointed rod. The rod 10 has cylindrical links 12 each provided with single centrally located fingers 14 at opposite ends. Cylindrical links 12 are pivotally connected to links 12 by pintles 13. Links 12 have notches 17 formed at opposite ends receiving the fingers 14'. Link 24 has T-shaped head 26 at one end and is notched at 17 at the other end to receive a finger 14- of key link 28', held by pintle 13".

The fingers 30, 32 of both key links 28 and 28' have their free ends spaced apart a total distance less than the diameter of passage 42 to permit free axial passage of the key links through passage 42. Thus, all the links except links 24, 24 with their T-heads and stop link 20 can pass axially through passage 42. This arrangement permits the desired limited opening of the door when rod or 10 is engaged with anchor 30 while preventing disengagement of the rods from the anchor unless the door is substantially closed and an authorized person at the inner side of the door manually effects disengagement.

The rod and anchor assemblies described are simple and rugged in construction and can be inexpensively manufactured. They can be installed by simple tools. The jointed rod can be attached to the short chains without tools by simply passing the entire length of the rod up to head 26, through any one of the links of chain 50, starting with stop link 20. If any link of chain 50 other than end link 53 is engaged with rod 10 or 10 the opening of the door will necessarily be narrower than when the rod engages the end link. But in any case, the door opening will be greater than that provided by the short chain 50 alone.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise constructions herein disclosed and that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patout is:

1. In an extension device for a short door chain, a jointed rod comprising a plurality of pivotally attached straight cylindrical links, said rod terminating at one end in a stop link having laterally extending stop elements aligned with each other on opposite sides of the stop link,

i said rod terminating at its other end in an anchor link engageable with a link in the door chain, and a key link in said rod connected between the anchor link and one of the cylindrical links for engaging on door anchor means.

2. In an extension device for a short door chain, a jointed rod comprising a plurality of pivotally attached straight cylindrical links, said rod terminating at one end in a stop link having laterally extending stop elements aligned with each other on opposite sides of the stop link, said rod terminating at its other end in an anchor link engageable with a link of the door chain, a key link in said rod connected between the anchor link and one of the cylindrical links; and an anchor for said rod, said anchor having a generally cylindrical body formed with a lateral slot wide enough to pass only the key link, and formed with an axial passage wide enough to pass all of the links of the rod except the stop link and anchor link.

3. In an extension device for a short door chain, a jointed rod comprising a plurality of pivotally attached straight cylindrical links, said rod terminating at one end in a stop link having laterally extending stop elements aligned with each other on opposite sides of the stop link, said rod terminating at its other end in an anchor link engageable with a link of the door chain, a key link in said rod connected between the anchor link and one of the cylindrical links; and an anchor for said rod, said anchor having a generally cylindrical body formed with a lateral slot wide enough to pass only the key link, and formed with an axial passage wide enough to pass all of the links of the rod except the stop link and anchor link, said key link having fingers extending outwardly of opposite sides thereof and spaced apart longitudinally of the key link, the slot in the cylindrical body having opposing edges formed with notches spaced apart a distance equal to the spacing of the fingers of the key link for receiving and passing the fingers of the key link only on lateral movement of the key link into and out of said passage.

4. In an extension device for a short door chain, a jointed rod comprising a plurality of pivotally attached straight cylindrical links, said rod terminating at one end in a stop link having laterally extending stop elements aligned with each other on opposite sides of the stop link, said rod terminating at its other end in an anchor link engageable with a link of the door chain, a key link in said rod connected between the anchor link and one of the cylindrical links; and an anchor for said rod, said anchor having a generally cylindrical body formed with a lateral slot wide enough to pass only the key link, and formed with an axial passage wide enough to pass all of the links of the rod except the stop link and anchor link, said key link having fingers extending outwardly of opposite sides thereof and spaced apart longitudinally of the key link, the slot in the cylindrical body having opposing edges formed with notches spaced apart a distance equal to the spacing of the fingers of the key link for receiving and passing the fingers of the key link only on lateral movement of the key link into and out of said passage, and a flat base plate integral with said cylindrical body and provided with means for securing said base plate to a door.

5. In an extension device for a short door chain, a jointed rod comprising a plurality of pivotally attached straight cylindrical links, said rod terminating at one end in a stop link having laterally extending stop elements aligned with each other on opposite sides of the stop link, said rod terminating at its other end in an anchor link engageable with a link of the door chain, a key link in said rod connected between the anchor link and one of the cylindrical links; and an anchor for said rod, said anchor having a generally cylindrical body formed with a lateral slot Wide enough to pass only the key link, and formed with an axial passage wide enough to pass all of the links of the rod except the stop link and anchor link, said key link having fingers extending outwardly of opposide sides thereof and spaced apart longitudinally of the key link, the slot in the cylindrical body having opposing edges formed with notches spaced apart a distance equal to the spacing of the fingers of the key link for receiving and passing the fingers of the key link only on lateral movement of the key link into and out of said passage, and a fiat base plate integral with said cylindrical body and provided with means for securing said base plate to a door, certain of said cylindrical links having centrally located fingers at opposite ends, others of said cylindrical links having notches at opposite ends receiving the fingers of said certain links, and pintles pivotally engaging the centrally located fingers in the end notches of the cylindrical links.

6. In an extension device for a short door chain, a jointed rod comprising a plurality of pivotally attached straight cylindrical links, said rod terminating at one end in a stop link having laterally extending stop elements aligned with each other on opposite sides of the stop link, said rod terminating at its other end in an anchor link engageable with a link of the door chain, a key link in said rod connected between the anchor link and one of the cylindrical links for engaging on door anchor means, certain of said cylindrical links having centrally located fingers at opposite ends, others of said cylindrical links having notches at opposite ends receiving the fingers of said certain links, and pintles pivotally engaging the centrally located fingers in the end notches of the cylindrical links.

7. In an extension device for a short door chain, a jointed rod comprising a plurality of pivotally attached straight cylindrical links, said rod terminating at one end in a stop link having laterally extending stop elements aligned with each other on opposite sides of the stop link, said rod terminating at its other end in an anchor link engageable with a link of the door chain, a key link in said rod connected between the anchor link and one of the cylindrical links; and an anchor for said rod, said anchor having a generally cylindrical body formed with a lateral slot wide enough to pass only the key link, and formed with an axial passage wide enough to pass all of the links of the rod except the stop link and anchor link, said key link having fingers extending outwardly of opposite sides thereof and spaced apart longitudinally of the key link, the slot in the cylindrical body having opposing edges formed with notches spaced apart a distance equal to the spacing of the fingers of the key link for receiving and passing the fingers of the key link only on lateral movement of the key link into and out of said passage, a flat base plate integral with said cylindrical body and provided with means for securing said base plate to a door, each of the cylindrical links having a single finger at each end, and pintles respectively pivotally engaging two abutted fingers of each two adjacent cylindrical links.

8. In an extension device for a short door chain, a jointed rod comprising a plurality of pivotally attached straight cylindrical links, said rod terminating at one end in a stop link having laterally extending stop elements aligned with each other on opposite sides of the stop link, said rod terminating at its other end in an anchor link engageable with a link of the door chain, a key link in said rod connected between the anchor link and one of the cylindrical links for engaging on door anchor means, each of the cylindrical links having end fingers, and pintles respectively pivotally engaging abutted end fingers of each two adjacent cylindrical links, all of said pintles being disposed in a common plane so that the rod is articulated in only a single plane perpendicular to the plane of said pintles.

9. In an extension device for a short door chain, a jointed rod comprising a plurality of pivotally attached straight cylindrical links, said rod terminating at one end in a stop link having laterally extending stop elements aligned with each other on opposite sides of the stop link, said rod terminating at its other end in an anchor link engageable with a link of the door chain, a key link in said rod connected between the anchor link and one of the cylindrical links; and an anchor for said rod, said anchor having a generally cylindrical body formed with a lateral slot wide enough to pass only the key link, and formed with an axial passage wide enough to pass all of the links of the rod except the stop link and anchor link, said key link having fingers extending outwardly of opposite sides thereof and spaced apart longitudinally of the key link, the slot in the cylindrical body having opposing edges formed with notches spaced apart a distance equal to the spacing of the fingers of the key link for receiving and passing the fingers of the key link only on lateral movement of the key link into and out of said passage, and a flat base plate integral with said cylindrical body and provided with means for securing said base plate to a door, certain of said cylindrical links having centrally located fingers at opposite ends, others of said cylindrical links having notches at opposite ends receiving the fingers of said certain links, and pintles pivotally engaging the centrally located fingers in the end notches of the cylindrical links, all of said pintles being disposed in a common plane so that the rod is articulated in only a single plane perpendicular to the plane of the pintles.

10. In an extension device for a short door chain, a jointed rod comprising a plurality of pivotally attached straight cylindrical links, said rod terminating at one end in a stop link having laterally extending stop elements aligned with each other on opposite sides of the stop link, said rod terminating at its other end in an anchor link engageable with a link of the door chain, and a key link in said rod connected between the anchor link and one of the cylindrical links for engaging on door anchor means, said anchor link having a T-shaped head whose length is larger than each link of the door chain, whereby the rod may be selectively engaged on any link of the door chain.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 281,714 Montant July 24, 1883 924,081 Loev June 8, 1909 1,920,693 Halsey Aug. 1, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 157,832 Australia July 26, 1954 

1. IN AN EXTENSION DEVICE FOR A SHORT DOOR CHAIN, A JOINTED ROD COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF PIVOTALLY ATTACHED STRAIGHT CYLINDRICAL LINKS, SAID ROD TERMINATING AT ONE END IN A STOP LINK HAVING LATERALLY EXTENDING STOP ELEMENTS ALIGNED WITH EACH OTHER ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE STOP LINK, SAID ROD TERMINATING AT ITS OTHER END IN AN ANCHOR LINK ENGAGEABLE WITH A LINK IN THE DOOR CHAIN, AND A KEY LINK IN SAID ROD CONNECTED BETWEEN THE ANCHOR LINK AND ONE OF THE CYLINDRICAL LINKS FOR ENGAGING ON DOOR ANCHOR MEANS. 